Everybody’s missing players, but it seemed like Real Salt Lake was hit harder than most. Their leading scorer (Alvaro Saborío), midfield linchpin (Kyle Beckerman), and starting goalkeeper (Nick Rimando) were out. So was their first choice right back (Tony Beltran) and their current starting left back (Abdoulie “Kenny” Mansally). Javier Morales was out, and their best defender (Nat Borchers) was getting his action of the season.

I believe they call that patchwork, but FC Dallas didn’t care. After all, you don’t get docked points because your opponent’s short-handed.

Instead, it’s incumbent on you to take advantage of situations, which is what FC Dallas did in their 2-0 win over RSL in Frisco. Check out the highlights, then meet me below for the discussion.

Dallas were missing players of their own, but not in critical spots. Forward Blas Pérez was absent from a position of strength, his international duty with Panama leaving Dallas to start their a comfortable five-midfielder formation. Raul Fernandez was away with Peru, but Chris Seitz provides an enviable option in reserve. Dallas got the better of the international week trade offs.

Those trade offs paid dividends in the second half, when Fabian Castillo broke through in the 70th minute with a left-footed blast into the top of Josh Saunders’ goal. Attacking through the left side of the box, Castillo appeared to be at a sharp enough angle for Saunders to handle the shot, but when the placement gave the former Galaxy keeper little chance to keep things even, Dallas had the only goal they’d need.

But just in case there was any doubt, Saunders gave them another goal. Lovel Palmer, being harassed by Jackson, played a short backpass to his keeper. It put Saunders in a bad place, and when he elected to take a touch to try and get the ball onto his left foot, Saunders only made things worse. Jackson eventually used a hook slide to poke the ball away from Saunders and into the RSL net, adding a goal to his assist on Castillo’s goal.

The 2-0 result leaves Dallas with nine points through four games, but we still need to see more from Schellas Hyndman’s crew. Their wins have been over a depleted RSL, a gift-giving Colorado, and a Houston team left wondering where the ref’s whistle was on the game winning goal. In the middle, they lost 3-1 to Chivas USA.

You can only win the games they give you, so Dallas certainly deserve their place atop the Western Conference, but given their March schedule and the lingering question of whether they can integrate all their striking talent, let’s take a wait-and-see before re-assessing Dallas’ place in the pecking order.